I am a fellow at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science and author of "What Stays in Vegas: The World of Personal Data -- Lifeblood of Big Business -- and the End of Privacy as We Know It.” I am now researching the business of medical data. Please send story ideas and your experiences in the world of personal data to: book (at) whatstaysinvegas.us. On Twitter, follow me at DataCurtain. http://www.facebook.com/WhatStaysinVegas

Here's Some Companies That Did Not Want to Talk About What They Do With Your Personal Data

In researching a book on the business of personal data, I have contacted many dozens of companies over the past year to learn what information they collect about us, what they do with it and whether or not they share or sell that data with others. The effort seeks to give consumers insights and, in turn, let them adjust what they share about themselves to their own level of comfort.

Many top executives graciously shared their time and insights, but some companies refused to discuss what they were up to over many requests. Such companies include well-known brands such as 7-Eleven and United Airlines, as well as data brokers and direct marketers whose names are less well known to the general public. Here’s some details on some of these companies.

7-Eleven, the convenience store which runs a loyalty program around its frozen Slurpee desserts, declined to answer questions about its collection of customer ZIP codes. If you are a member of what they call Slurpee Nation, here’s what their privacy policy says: they do not sell your information to third parties. Many others do sell data to outsiders, so I am still wondering why they are so reticent to talk.

United Airlines first sparked my interest because, despite my repeated efforts, over many months I could not extract myself from their marketing e-mail list. I changed my settings, called their toll-free number and wrote various executives with the request. When they did not respond I changed the email address on my account to that of the company’s CEO, but I continued to receive what I considered spam from the airline.

When I wrote the airline some months ago to ask about how the company uses personal data, the skies were not so friendly. I received an unsigned email from their media relations office: “We’re unable to help facilitate your paper.”

At the Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference last year, I came across an interesting company, the KBM Group, which advertises themselves as “the knowledge-based marketing leader for the digital age.” They rented a large booth there and wanted to promote their services. There I met Barbara Palmer, the senior vice president of marketing. She declined to talk about her company’s work. Instead she suggested she could help arrange a discussion with the right people in their New York offices. After some weeks of back and forth, she wrote: “We’re going to adhere to our standard PR approach, which is to focus our public relations efforts on the trade press.” Such an approach means the general public, the very people whose profiles they hold, would not learn about the company.

So what exactly does KBM do? Its parent company is Wunderman, a part of Young & Rubicam and a member of WPPWPP. It owns a series of direct marketing businesses. I was most interested in I-Behavior, which helps provide direct marketers with data on individual consumers. They have a data cooperative with 2,600 contributing members who share details about what 190 million individuals buy in stores, online and from catalogs.

It also helps companies append data to consumer data files such as an email, phone number, or general demographic data. Many companies provide similar services, although KBM appeared especially shy about discussing their work.

Another large marketing company, Experian, which is best known by the general public for its credit scores, originally set up an interview with Rick Erwin, president of their data division. Then they cancelled it. Several weeks passed and they asked for advance questions. I sent over a list of not particularly difficult topics: “What kinds of individualized marketing are possible today that were not a few years back? What have some of these advances meant for businesses, and who has benefitted the most? How has ExperianExperian adapted to the ever expanding sources of data on individuals? Can firms ever have too much data about their customers and why?” In the end, a spokeswoman wrote back to say the company would decline to answer.

In preparing this article I wrote all these companies again, giving them a week to respond. The CEOs of 7-Eleven and KBM maintained their firms’ previous silence and did not write back. The head of the loyalty program at United did send an email and we have scheduled a future interview which I hope to publish here soon. Experian is considering the request.

I can certainly understand that companies do not want to spend all their days answering questions about their practices. They have important work to do, whether it is flying planes, serving up frozen desserts or helping facilitate direct marketing commerce. But when they gather a lot of data about us, it is not unreasonable for any consumer to ask what they do with the information. It’s about us, after all, so we are all directly affected. Personal data impacts virtually everyone in the United States, as our records are widely collected, sold and marketed. Sometimes privacy policies tell us what companies do with data, but often that language obscures the true meaning. So it is nice to receive a simple answer when possible. In the long run, a lack of openness may prove detrimental to their own business interests.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

I cleaned out my purse a few weeks ago and decided to cut-up and close a bunch of old membership cards for auto rental companies, hotel discount clubs, and such. But when it came to American Airlines, it was impossible to remove my personal information from their systems or close out my membership. I was told to provide proof of who I was (government photo I.D., address, etc.) via fax, then they would remove me. I almost agreed to do this until I asked them what they’d do with my fax after they confirmed the information. They said they’d “keep it on file.” Grrr. Hotel California?